Exploration and Interpretation

Hedda Gabler

2009-02-04T21:36:00.001-08:00

Wow. It's been a while. Anyway, I recently had the fantastic opportunity to see the Broadway revival of Ibsen's classic tale of household suspense. It was among the best of my theatrical experiences.

It tells the story of a cunning woman who tries to control the little world she finds herself trapped in through manipulation and deceit. It is an interesting story with complex characters and plot twists that will keep you guessing up until the end. In its time, it was quite controversial - no one wanted to talk about what happened between people in secret, or question class and societal expectations. While today it is not as shocking in that manner, its effect is still profound.

We begin the Broadway contemporary interpretation with Hedda, played by Mary Louise Parker, rising from her bed and entering the living room. After cooly observing her environment, she flies into a rage, tossing chairs and knocking things about. It seems wild and yet entirely under her control the entire time. And it is from this scene that we receive our first impression of Hedda, which is most certainly an accurate one. Throughout the story, we see her take every detail into account. We see that all her senses are alive, despite her cold attitude and bored disposition. She is paying attention so that she can take her knowledge and use it to manipulate, to play games with the other characters so that she is controlling the little it is that she can. Mary Louise Parker gives an incredible performance in portraying a woman so desperate for power and entertainment that she creates horrible games and watches her plans unfold.

Another performance that I was very impressed with is that of a favorite actor of mine, Michael Cerveris. He plays Hedda's clueless husband, Jorgen. He is a man who sees the world as he believes it should be, not necessarily as it is. He is devoted to his work as a scholar, and assumes everyone else is interested in the household customs of the middle ages and such. Hedda finds his studies unbearably banal. He is also a very caring man, who loves his aunts (whom Hedda of course hates) more than life itself. And more than anything, he loves Hedda, and believes she loves him in return. Hedda just finds him to be pathetic. His cluelessness provides for some comic moments, but you also feel sorry for him - his devotion and passion to his studies, other people, and Hedda is adorable, yet it also leaves him vulnerable to manipulation by his wife.

Every other character in the show is interesting as well and portrayed perfectly and vividly by the actors. The show is suspenseful, yet in an entirely believable and realistic way that allows you to relate to it. Overall, Hedda Gabler is a brilliant play, written by a brilliant playwright, and I felt that the new contemporary version helped to capture its original controversy. It was an intellectual and captivating evening I will not forget.

The reviews were terrible, however. Here is a list of excerpts from them.

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

2008-12-28T19:01:00.000-08:00

I read this a while back, but its clever lines, deep concepts, and remarkable simplicity still linger in my thoughts. Edward Albee is, hands-down, a genius.

The play takes place within a single evening. Two couples, one young and one middle-aged, get together with the intention of having some fun. Instead, shocking secrets are discovered, unknown resentment is stirred, chaos prevails, and everything is at stake. As the character Martha says, it's difficult to discern truth from illusion.

As in the previously reviewed piece The Pillowman, the characters gradually reveal themselves through their actions and their words, rather than being spelled out for you right from the start. By the end of the play, the reader feels intimately acquainted with each of them, having seen them at their worst. Edward Albee does a brilliant job making sure that the characters' behaviors are true to their uniquely developed personalities.

The story, too is intricate, yet simple. It's basically four people bitching at one another. Yet there is a rhythm that guides the words, and a structure that guides the story, faint, invisible, but very strong.

Who's Afraid of Virignia Woolf? is a Pulitzer-winning masterpiece that every theatre enthusiast should read or, if you are lucky enough, see. Watch the movie, as well. No matter what form this story takes on, it's just plain incredible in every way.

This is a trailer for the film.

Here is a review of the Broadway revival, and here is another. Here is a review of the film.

Assassins

2008-12-28T11:46:00.000-08:00

My favorite musical of all time, for certain. Sondheim and Weidman put their skill with words together and create a masterpiece that will not leave my mind. Ever.

Here's a link to my review.

Buy the soundtrack. Buy the book. Watch it if you ever get the chance.

YOU WILL NEVER SEE LIFE IN THE SAME WAY!!!! THIS MUSICAL IS INCREDIBLE!!!!

Here, here, here, and here are clips of the Broadway production.

And here is a review of the specific production I saw, and here is a commercial for that production.

The Pillowman

2008-12-27T21:19:00.001-08:00

What can I say? Unsettling, disturbing, and brilliant. I read The Pillowman three days ago - yes, on Christmas night. And since then I haven't stopped thinking about it. It's a work that will haunt me for perhaps the rest of my life.

It begins on a writer being interrogated about the gruesome material of his short stories and their relation to a series of child murders. The police are officials of an unnamed totalitarian state - the reader automatically assumes it's just another story about oppression of the writer's voice. However, while freedom of speech may be a minor component of its theme, for the most part the story is about the torment people inflict upon each other. What was most fascinating about the story for me, besides the developed structure of the story, was the lifelike portrayal of the characters.

The four main characters are realistic, multi-faceted, and human. Each has recognizable motives and wants. Each develops his own pattern of speech. Each is screwed up beyond belief, yet, as I stated before, human. I could vividly see these characters as flesh and blood, living and breathing.

The protagonist, Katurian, defines himself as a storyteller. He lives for his stories, and places them before his own life. These stories are appalling, to say the least, reminiscent of the fairy tales the Brothers Grimm once recorded. Despite this, he is a sympathetic character who endures torment and sorrow as he makes his way through the twists and turns of the play.

Michal, a mentally retarded and also disturbed man, is Katurian's brother. Michal has recently killed children in certain ways that Katurian describes in his stories. In awe of these stories, Michal does not realize that he has done anything wrong. He has a strange and twisted past that helps to explain his insanity, but I still found him to be unsympathetic.

Detective Tupolski is an investigator who views himself as detached from the cases he works to solve. He constantly portrays an apathetic attitude with his dispassionate lines and indifferent wisecracks. He is an interesting character whose lines contrast the emotional material of the play.

Detective Ariel is the opposite of Tupolski - he may not be too bright, but he cares about what he is doing. As he says, he is a good cop, not because he can solve the cases correctly, but because he stands for a just cause. He especially hates people who abuse children, and will torture them to death without thinking twice about whether or not they are guilty.

Each of these characters works their way through the play, no single character knowing everything or being able to see the brilliantly chosen paths the story takes. The playwright employs one of the most exceptionally coherent structures I have ever seen a play take on. I highly recommend this piece to anyone with a strong stomach (I had to stop several times) and a yearning for a life-changing, exhilarating experience. Read, or better yet, watch The Pillowman if you believe you are ready to be shocked and amazed.

Here's a Youtube video with some more exploration and interpretation by the Broadway cast and crew.

And here's the play on Wikipedia.

Here, here, here, here, and here are some other people's thoughts.